ADMETUS: God, these old men! How they pray for death!
How heavy is their life in the slow drag of days!
And yet, when Death comes near them,
You will not find one who will rise and walk with him,
Not one whose years are still a burden to him!
[ἌΔΜΗΤΟΣ: μάτην ἄρ᾽ οἱ γέροντες εὔχονται θανεῖν,
γῆρας ψέγοντες καὶ μακρὸν χρόνον βίου:
ἢν δ᾽ ἐγγὺς ἔλθῃ θάνατος, οὐδεὶς βούλεται
θνῄσκειν, τὸ γῆρας δ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ ἔστ᾽ αὐτοῖς βαρύ.]
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Alcestis [Ἄλκηστις ], l. 669ff (438 BC) [tr. Fitts/Fitzgerald (1936)]
More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/euripides/86953/
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